Cougars Take on Nation's Best

Junior Jake Ellison is tied for the 14th place at the prestigious PING Preview.

SUNRIVER -- Playing against the nation's top golf teams, BYU moved into 10th place after the second round of the PING/Golfweek preview at the Sunriver Golf Course in Sunriver, Ore. on Tuesday.

BYU is seven shots out of third place after a two-over-par 290 second round and a nine-over-par 297 first round. The Cougars were led by newly-returned missionary Daniel Summerhays of Farmington , Utah and junior Jake Ellison of St. George, Utah. Both finished the second round at one-under-par 71. Ellison is currently tied for 14th place while Summerhays moved into a tie for 33rd place. All-American Oscar Alvarez continued to prove he is one the top collegiate golfers in the nation. After a one-over-par 73 on Tuesday, he moved into a tie for 24th place. 2005 MWC champion Nick Becker finished the day at four-over-par and in a tie for 27th place. Clay Ogden, 2005 Publinks champion is tied for 63rd at 11-over-par.

"We're playing pretty well, but we've got to come out and play very well in tomorrow's final round to be where we feel like we should be," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said.

Considered one of the top college tournaments of the regular season, the PING/Golfweek Preview hosts fourteen teams ranked in the nation's top 20. Nine of the top 10 teams in the country are competing in the Preview this year including top-ranked Georgia and No. 2 Oklahoma State. After a fourth-place finish at last year's NCAA championship, BYU earned an invite to this prestigious event. The Cougars were invited the last two seasons, but were unable to attend because the event was played on a Sunday. The PING/Golfweek Preview is always held at the course where the national championship tournament will be held at the end of the season. This year the event is held at Sunriver, home of the Mountain West Conference Championship the past five seasons.

Defending national champion at eight-under-par Georgia holds a strong 10-stroke lead over second-place Georgia Tech. Fellow Mountain West Conference teams UNLV and New Mexico are in fifth and sixth place respectively. Coming from one of the top golf conferences in the nation, BYU has a chance to move up into the top five with a good showing during Wednesday's final round.

"We always feel like we deserve to play against the best in the nation," BYU assistant coach Todd Miller said. "Now we need to show that we deserve to be here."

Scoring for the tournament is live on the internet at www.golfstat.com.